Garbage! One of the best bands of the 90s is back and kicking even more ass than ever. They played a sold out show at New York’s Terminal 5 on March 22, 2013 and it was anything but garbage. The band played their first New York show in 7 years last May (which I went to and was so awesome), and they played 9 different songs last night than when they were last here!

Shirley Manson, Butch Vig, Duke Erikson

The band experienced a few technical problems, but Shirley Manson used that time to tell funny stories like comparing technical glitches to being on a bad date, but in the end you have sex anyway! She also briefly addressed the recent scandal where 90s singer Michelle Shocked made on stage anti-gay remarks and Shirley simply said “Fuck Michelle Shocked!” Manson also thanked the legions of Garbage fans who have stuck with the band through thick and thin before playing “The Trick is To Keep Breathing.”

Steve Marker and Shirley Manson

There were so many highlights and the band has so many great songs that despite playing 22 songs, I left wanting them to keep playing for another 2 hours. But they did play “Only Happy When It Rains,” “Stupid Girl,” “#1 Crush,” Special,” “When I Grow Up,””Push It,” and not often played song such as “Hammering In My Head” from “Version 2.0” and “The One” which is a bonus track on their latest album “Not Your Kind of People.” They also played “Cup of Coffee” off “Beautiful Garbage” and Shirley Manson said it’s the saddest song Garbage has ever played and encouraged fans to weep openly during the song. For the encore (and a video will be coming soon), they brought out Screaming Females lead singer Marissa Paternoster to perform a cover of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night.” You can watch a video of “Queer” right now! (link will open in new window). I know it’s good for you. You can click it if you want. 🙂

Shirley Manson, Butch Vig

If you think Garbage is one of those nostalgia acts, I highly encourage you to listen to their entire catalog as they have so many rockin’ songs and continue to make great music over 15 years after their debut! Shirley Manson’s lyrics are fragile, biting, ironic and all of them are married with an attitude of “I can kick your ass at anytime, so don’t fuck with me” and like the name of their third album, that is beautiful garbage, according 2 G.